Meet House of Reps Speaker: What you need to know about Tajudeen Abbas

During the election on Tuesday, Tajudeen Abbas secured 353 votes to defeat Sani Jaji, a Zamfara lawmaker who polled 3 votes, and Idris Wase, a Plateau lawmaker and former deputy speaker, who had 3 votes too.

Birthed into royalty, Abbas, the lawmaker representing Zaria federal constituency, was born three years after Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1963, into a ruling family in the Zazzau Emirate nestled in the ancient city of Zaria, Zaria LGA of Kaduna state.

He holds the traditional title of Iyan Zazzau. His great-grandfather was an emir in the Zazzau Emirate. He comes from the Mallawa dynasty of the emirate. Meanwhile, his mother hails from Dutsen Kura in Malumfashi LGA of Katsina state.

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Abbas was enrolled at the LEA Primary School, Lemu, Zaria, where he obtained his first school leaving certificate (FSLC). Continuing in his pursuit of knowledge, he went to the Government Secondary School in Makarfi, where he acquired the West African Examination Certificate (WAEC) in 1978.

With an insatiable hunger for academic excellence, he obtained a Grade I certificate at Kaduna Teacher’s College in 1981. Abbas then proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria where he studied accounting and bagged a diploma in 1984.

His academic odyssey continued unabated as he obtained a B.Sc in business administration from Ahmadu Bello University in 1988. He bagged an M.Sc in business administration from the same institution in 1993. Abbas went further to get a PhD from Usman Dan Fodio University in Sokoto.

He also obtained another B.Sc in Business Administration Management from Usman Dan Fodio University.

Abbas was a primary school teacher from 1981 to 1988. In June 1998, Abbas decided to temporarily veer away from the familiar path of civil service. He delved into the private sector, joining the Nigerian Tobacco Company (NTC) Plc in Jos. For three years and three months, he held the esteemed position of a general manager, navigating through the complexities of the industry.

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Abbas later joined the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in September 2001, where he lectured until June 2005.

Abbas was first elected to the federal House of Representatives on the platform of the now-defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011.

In a stunning display of support, he triumphed once again in the 2015 elections, this time on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC). Abbas took on multiple roles as a member of various committees within the hallowed green chamber.

He was the deputy chairman of the house committee on legislative compliance between 2011 and 2015. Following the inauguration of the house in 2019, he was appointed to chair the committee on land transport.

Tajudeen was also saddled with other legislative ad hoc assignments in the lower legislative chamber. In 2019, he was appointed as the treasurer of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (African chapter).

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He was a member of the governing council of the Nigerian Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) where he represented the north-west geo-political zone from 2019 to 2023.

Abbas was the APC Kaduna caucus leader in the House of Representatives, a position he held since 2019. In 2021, he was appointed the chairman of the House of Representatives sub-committee on the constitutional review conference for the north-central.

During his four years stint in the 9th lower legislative chamber, he sponsored 74 bills; out of this extraordinary tally, over 18 received presidential assent.

With Abbas ascending the throne of the number four seat in the country, all eyes are fixed on him, as he orchestrates the symphony of the green chamber over the course of the next four years.